The Inspiration Seekers is a blog founded by sisters-in-law Charlene Panutat-Carlos and Leona Laviña-Panutat as a creative outlet for all things that promote inspired living. The partners share their favorite discoveries and current obsessions through light and informative posts that marry the aspirational with the attainable.

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What started out as a quick birthday/catch up/ get together with our fave SM Home’s Tom Castañeda, turned into a full on styling challenge that resulted in two very different living room vignettes. We’re sorry we made you work before lunch Tom, but in our defense, you invited us to meet at SM Makati’s Home Decor Department aka our happy place/playground. You didn’t really expect us to walk out of there without touching anything did you?!

Ok, back to the challenge. We spotted this great sectional and wanted to show how versatile it was style wise so we gave each other 30 minutes to “shop” SM Home’s wide selection of furnishings and home accessories and come up with our own versions of the perfect living room.

Our perfect blank canvas, SM Home’s dove gray sectional.

Us basically filling our cart with pieces that we felt best described our living room style. SM Home has a great selection of plants that instantly bring life to any space.

Tom Castañeda doing the same! Haha! We are loving those leaves!

First up, Tom.

Name: Tom Castañeda

Company: SM Home

Describe your Living Room style.

I went with what I like to call a “geo-masc” design for our too-much-fun-to-call-it-work design challenge, as in geometric and masculine.

I’ve always loved geometric patterns, and SM Home carries a lot of great items in different geometric shapes and patterns. In 30 minutes, I was able to find throw pillows with triangular patterns, a geometric candle holder and ceramics, and even an architectural artwork that has those same shapes!

To keep the space more masculine, I opted to use black, grey and white, and just add a pop of color with the hunter green, which has been a favorite color of mine since my Michigan State University days! Go Green, Go White! Ha Ha. But seriously, green is one of the most popular colors for men. And it’s a color that makes a bold, sophisticated statement, while its ties to nature keep the hue casual and approachable.

What was the inspiration behind it?

When I’m not given a client profile, I tend to design spaces that you’d find in my own home. So, I guess you could say I designed a living room that I’d love. But hopefully others can appreciate too. People are sometimes afraid to play with patterns, so I wanted to show how you can take something simple like geometric patterns and create a cohesive space without having to use the exact same pattern on everything. So the pillows, decor items and artwork all have geometric patterns that go well together. And that sofa, in a light grey, is the perfect ‘neutral’ base to design around!

Which 3 items should every living room have?

While everyone’s styles and needs vary, I think everyone wants a comfortable and inviting living room. So, here are my picks:

1) Invest in a great Sofa. If you have the space, get an L-sectional sofa. It will change your life.

2) Get a multifunctional coffee table. Nowadays you can find coffee tables that have great hidden storage space, as well as my personal favorite—lift up sections–so you can do work in front of the TV without having to scrunch down or sit on the floor.

3) Great lighting. Whether you are using lamps, pendant lights or just the overhead lighting that came with the design of your home, or a combination of the three, think about investing in dimmer switches. Low light for watching television, but brighter light when you’re working from home, etc.

Name: C & L

Company: The Inspiration Seekers

Describe your living room style?

Contemporary Feminine Chic. We incorporated both our favourite colors in this living room. L absolutely loves mustard and C has been gravitating to all things blush for the past few years.

What was the inspiration behind it?

We knew we wanted to work with this marble coffee table ( C has The Masonry after all!) and found pieces that would complement it. We also drew inspiration from the gorgeous embroidered John Lewis throw pillow that had all our favorite colors, blush, mustard and blue.

Which 3 items should every living room have?

Couch or Daybed that can easily be converted just in case you need an extra bed for houseguests.

Pillow, pillows and more pillows – They are the easiest and most affordable trick to update your living room. Look for embroidered and textured pieces that exude a luxurious feel. SM Home has a great selection to choose from.

Decorate with things that you love, pieces that remind you of people or places you have traveled to. We all love a good story. Our homes should tell that story. Let your home show your personality.

Okay, wait can we write down four?

4. Plants! Plants instantly add life to any room. Black thumb you say? Well we have one too! Here’s a great tip/trend we’ve been seeing a lot on some of our favorite bloggers’ homes, they use faux plants! Not everyone has access to direct sunlight nor has the time to constantly water their plants. If you can’t take care of a real one, try getting artificial ones. SM Home has a great selection that you can check out. They add warmth, life and color to your space without dying on you. Ever.

We really believe that high style doesn’t have to come with a high price tag and SM Home perfectly epitomizes that! We’ve gotten lots of great pieces from there and mixed it with family heirlooms and favorite finds from our travels.

Thank you Tom and SM home for letting us “shop and style” your store! We can’t wait for the next design challenge!